High Premiums in Senate Democrats' Health Plan  —  WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats have provided few details about their latest health care proposal, but this much seems clear: Anyone who wants to buy the same health benefits as members of Congress, or to buy coverage through Medicare …

Jenny Sanford: ‘I am now filing for divorce’  —  S.C. First Lady Jenny Sanford issued a statement this morning saying that she is filing for divorce from embattled Gov. Mark Sanford, who disclosed this summer that he had had an extramarital affair with a woman from Argentina.  —  Jenny Sanford's statement says:

Baucus gave girlfriend $14K raise  —  Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, gave a nearly $14,000 pay raise to a female staffer in 2008, at the time he was becoming romantically involved with her, and later that year took her on a taxpayer-funded trip …

Kathleen Parker on Obama's triumph at Oslo  —  After Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize speech, anyone still questioning whether he is really a Christian, rather than a Muslim aligned with fanaticism, needs to seek therapy forthwith.  —  Anyone still unconvinced that Obama is really an American committed …

The new socialism  —  In the 1970s and early '80s, having seized control of the U.N. apparatus (by power of numbers), Third World countries decided to cash in.  OPEC was pulling off the greatest wealth transfer from rich to poor in history.  Why not them?  So in grand U.N. declarations …

Election 2010: Colorado Senate Race  —  2010 Colorado Senate: Norton Runs Best Against Democrats  —  The election is nearly a year away, but right now former Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton appears to be the Republican with the best shot of beating either of the potential Democratic candidates in Colorado's race for the U.S. Senate.

For feds, more get 6-figure salaries  —  The number of federal workers earning six-figure salaries has exploded during the recession, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal salary data.  —  Federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14% to 19% of civil servants during …

Senate bill allows insurers to establish annual limits  —  “A loophole in the Senate health care bill would let insurers place annual dollar limits on medical care for people struggling with costly illnesses such as cancer,” reports the AP.  The Senate Finance Committee barred annual caps altogether.

Are Democrats Sunk?  —  A friend of mine from Virgina forwarded an email to me today from the NRCC.  It started like this: … I laughed it off, but he wasn't having any: … Comments?  Is lefty obsession with the public option going to torpedo Dems in 2010?

House Passes Far-Reaching Bill Tightening Financial Rules  —  WASHINGTON — The House on Friday approved a Democratic plan to significantly tighten federal regulation of Wall Street and the financial sector, advancing a far-reaching Congressional response to the financial crisis still reverberating through the economy.

Baucus To Conrad And Gregg On A Budget Commission: Yo Mama  —  Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) yesterday delivered this speech on the Senate floor against the budget commission proposed by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Budget Committee Ranking Republican Judd Gregg (R-NH).

Sarah Palin plans to be key player in 2010  —  Everyone should be unsuccessful so successfully: From a losing vice presidential candidacy, Sarah Palin has bounced back as a best-selling author with plans to be a major player in next year's elections.  —  “It has been spectacular,” …

Pharma Deal Shuts Down Senate Health Care Debate  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  The White House, aided by Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), is working hard to crush an amendment being pushed by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) to allow for the reimportation of pharmaceutical drugs from Canada, Senate sources tell the Huffington Post.

Sign a Letter to Susan B. Komen Foundation: Donations Shouldn't Go To Hadassah Lieberman  —  The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation Headquarters  —  The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and Susan G. Komen for the Cure are driving forces in funding breast cancer research.

Bernie Madoff, the $19 Billion Con, Makes New Friends Behind Bars  —  A Year After His Arrest, Inmate No. 61727-054 Settles In — Only 1,795 Months to Go  —  BUTNER, N.C. — Bernard L. Madoff's life of country clubs and luxury homes ended when federal agents arrested him at his Manhattan penthouse apartment exactly one year ago.

One problem with Republicans: They've got the wrong Mitch  —  INDIANAPOLIS Earlier this week, I found myself in the majestic office of Indiana's diminutive governor, Mitch Daniels, talking about health care.  —  Daniels is a rarity these days, an incredibly popular Republican politician …

Washington Fuss Over White House Hanukkah Party  —  WASHINGTON — At the first Hanukkah party in the Obama White House, a Jewish student choir will sing in sweet harmony, the two young children of a soldier deployed in Iraq will light a 19th-century silver menorah from Prague and President Obama and his wife …

Sen. Durbin says he's ‘in the dark’ on possible healthcare reform compromise  —  The 10 Democratic senators who crafted a healthcare compromise are keeping its details a secret, says Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Friday.  —  Responding to a complaint by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) …

John McCain, critic-in-chief  —  Barack Obama began his presidency with an open hand toward the man he had just defeated in a race that was at times bitter.  —  “There are few Americans who understand this need for common purpose and common effort better than John McCain,” …

DOJ rejects Jack Johnson pardon  —  The Department of Justice has rejected Congressional attempts to pardon turn-of-the-last-century boxer Jack Johnson, a black heavyweight champion who was jailed for violation of the notorious “white slavery” Mann Act.  —  The department's pardons attorney wrote …

Sarah Palin's Copenhagen-Bashing Op-Ed One Of Most Read WaPo Opinion Pieces Of The Year  —  Here's a dispiriting postscript to the massive flap over The Washington Post's decision to publish an Op ed by Sarah Palin on climate change, a piece that has been widely criticized as riddled with falsehoods.

CAIR Attorney Demands Ban and Seizure of all Christmas Cards sent to Rifqa Bary (Bumped) ***And Updated***  —  In a stunning development in the ongoing legal saga of Muslim-turned-Christian convert Rifqa Bary, the parents' attorney, Omar Tarazi, filed a motion with the Franklin County courts …

Tea partyers petition Dem lawmaker to move office to make protests easier  —  A Christian civil liberties organization on Thursday asked centrist Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) to move his district office to a location more favorable to protesters.  —  The Rutherford Institute …

Blackwater Guards Tied to Secret Raids by the C.I.A.  —  WASHINGTON — Private security guards from Blackwater Worldwide participated in some of the C.I.A.'s most sensitive activities — clandestine raids with agency officers against people suspected of being insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan …

Viscount Monckton calls young climate activists ‘Hitler Youth’  —  Christopher Monckton berates a group of young activists for interrupting a meeting of climate sceptics in Copenhagen, calling them ‘Nazis’ and ‘Hitler Youth’  —  When Christopher Monckton, the hereditary third Viscount Monckton of Brenchley …

Spanking and the 2008 election … More here.The most interesting part of the study is that this is apparently a new divide in American politics.

Failed omnibus talks set up another working weekend for Senate  —  A final effort to avoid a weekend of votes fell apart Thursday evening when Senate Democratic and Republican leaders failed to reach agreement to consider an omnibus spending bill on Friday.  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid …

The Hanukkah Story  —  Tonight Jewish kids will light the menorah, spin their dreidels and get their presents, but Hanukkah is the most adult of holidays.  It commemorates an event in which the good guys did horrible things, the bad guys did good things and in which everybody is flummoxed …